WASHINGTON: A contentious congressional hearing held last week on allegedly improper General Services Administration (GSA) contracting and political activities threatened to further mar the reputation of an agency that helps oversee billions of dollars in annual government procurement, according to PR and marketing executives who specialize in government contracting.

At a March 28 US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearing, GSA head Lurita Doan stridently repeated in testimony previous assertions that her attempt to award a no-bid, $20,000 research ...